


and as the world falls away

by paya



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Death, Gen, POV Third Person, written pre-release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-03 01:22:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19453450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paya/pseuds/paya
Summary: Byleth thought teaching meant raising your students, not holding them as they died.





	and as the world falls away

_once._

Claude offers her the same amiable smile as always, but this time, it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Hey, teach,” he rasps, cheerful as always, and Byleth struggles to look at him. Despite the blazing heat, a chill runs down her spine, and she wipes a bead of sweat from her forehead.

His marred body, bloodstained and scorched from the fire, lies crumpled on the cracked Earth, and with weak fingers he clutches the grip of his bow. The tang of blood lingers on his lips, and he creases his brow, trying to remember back to safer days.

Safer, more carefree days, times when making mistakes didn’t matter, and the stench of burnt flesh didn’t choke the air.

He extends a shaking hand towards her, and Byleth takes it in her own, smoothes her thumb over his palm. “You won’t forget me, will you?”, croaks Claude, breath hitching.

“Don’t worry,” she whispers, “I never could.”

He smiles, this time genuine, a _thank you_ and _goodbye_ in one.

_twice._

Edelgard struggles to take a breath, lungs aching with the bitter frost.

Red is all she knows.

She feels it, and lingering anger burns white-hot in her throat.

She bleeds it, and it seeps into the wasteland of white around her, staining this foreign snow with the emblem of her nation.

She wears it with pride, a callous reminder of the legacy passed down to her from her forefathers, for a millennium and forevermore.

She parts her lips, aching to tell the silence, _it doesn’t end here_ , but nothing more than a thin trickle of blood leaks down her chin _._ A tear freezes against her cheek, and mustering the last of her strength, she cranes her neck, meeting eyes with the figure knelt beside her.

“It’s okay,” smiles Byleth, taking her hand in her own. “You’re not alone. I’m here by your side.”

And then, with a semblance of guilt, “It’s okay for you to go.”

Edelgard weakens her grip, and lets her eyes flutter shut.

_thrice._

Dimitri had always hoped he’d die a noble death. He failed himself.

He had also hoped to die alone. Byleth refused.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she murmurs, less a reassurance and a more a gentle threat.

Dimitri groans in a feeble attempt to lift his leg, and Byleth holds him down, folding her cape into a pillow and cushioning it beneath his head.

“Why,” he growls, swallowing thickly, “won’t you leave me alone, woman?”

She says nothing, and sweeps a strand of blonde hair from his eyes, gently tucking it behind his ear. He chokes on the blood rising in his throat, wheezing and gasping for air, and Byleth doesn’t bat an eyelash.

Realisation flashes cold through his eyes, and he reaches out towards her, frantic and trembling. _I don’t want to go_ , he mouths, _please don’t let me go._

She takes his hand softly, brings it to her lips, and leaves a gentle kiss, black metal cool against her skin. “You’re safe now,” she breathes, watching the life drain away from his skin.

Byleth thought teaching meant raising your students, not holding them as they died.

She was wrong.


End file.
